Brave and The Bold
by Dymaxion Chronofile
Summary: Jack loved Gabriel from the moment he arrived in Besaid. Gabriel would have done anything for Jack. They should have known that, in a world of Sin and fiends, it would have never lasted. (Final Fantasy X AU for R76 Big Bang)
1. Chapter 1

Alright SO! This is my entry for the Reaper76 Big Bang 2017. Honestly, this has been such a ride. I'd like to thank everyone on Discord for being so kind to me over the past few months, and my close friends for dealing with, well, me having incessant meltdowns over this whole debacle. A special thanks to my artists for picking me, as well. No links to art just yet, but I'll update as soon as I get links.

I will warn for FFX spoilers, but I think a lot of people who read this know the story. And if you don't, well, plenty of explanation in the fic for you. This particular fic is looking into the past of Jack and Gabriel as they grow up in Besaid. Why not anywhere else? ...I'm not sure, now that I think about it. Oh well. This was originally going to be something else (same universe), but I would have run out of time. So in reality, there is a big chunk of a sequel sitting in a Word document on my laptop.

I can't believe it's over. Months in the making, and here we go. Schedule is every Wednesday and Sunday.

* * *

Jack was only a baby when his parents died at the hands of Sin, The Great Beast caused by the folly of man. He was passed from temple to temple by the church, until finally, they found room for him in the village island of Besaid. The pastor officing there was more than happy to take in another lost soul. He already had quite the reputation for it, as well.

From there, through Zenyatta's teaching, Jack learnt all about Sin, the monster born from the great war with machina - machines - and a physical representation of humanity's sins. Yevon, Spira's common religion, taught that through repenting, humanity could atone for their sins and, with the aid of the summoners, Sin would not rise again. It was that hope that kept the religion alive, regardless of how many times summoners took the beast down and the fact that it always came back.

Summoners called forth aeons - powerful monsters, and physical manifestations of souls. Those souls belonged to people known as fayth, who had been locked away in stone, never to wake. Summoners were to travel through a pilgrimage across Spira, to gain various aeons, before obtaining the final aeon. With that final aeon, they could take Sin down, but only for a time, as it always returned.

Not everyone had the power to become one, and many who did have the ability did not go on the pilgrimage. Many would give up somewhere along the way, but the most common place to quit was the Calm Lands, right before Zanarkand, and right before Sin. There was no shame in it, though. Not everyone was strong enough to sacrifice themselves for the world. Instead, the ones who quit would fall into priesthood.

The priests believed Jack had the skills necessary to become a summoner, and tried to encourage him to become one. He didn't want to, though, and he made that clear from the start, much to the dismay of the priests. All Jack wanted was to be a normal kid, and he didn't want to be treated like a porcelain doll in a glass cabinet.

He was not the only child to have been taken in by the temple. Jack had the company of a girl, Ana, who was a couple of years older than him, but had arrived only shortly before him. Her parents had also been killed by Sin, and that shared loss brought the two of them closer. With Ana by his side, Jack no longer felt like he was alone.

Quickly, she took on the role of a big sister with him, which Jack happily lapped up. When Jack was growing up, there were no other children in the temple. However, there was also a young woman, a fledgling, who all but isolated herself to hone her skills. She was most likely lonely, so when she was praying at the temple, Jack joined her. He never said anything, and neither did she. Once she was done for the day, she would pat his head and walk away. Jack always saw that as a sign of affection.

Zenyatta did not have a lot of time, but what time he did have spare went to the children. Jack loved the time the three of them spent together, and he could almost pretend he just had an absent father, not an orphan. Zenyatta did often make an effort to put the children to bed, but it was not always feasible.

Those nights were when Jack could truly talk to Zenyatta, and he would ask him whatever came to mind at the time. Anything to keep him around for as long as possible. Zenyatta knew his tactic, and would always hesitate before leaving the room. His duties to the temple may have been important, but the well-being of his wards mattered more to him.

Then one night, Jack asked a question that was inevitable. He asked about what a summoner truly was, no more vague explanations. And Zenyatta halted completely; Jack was still young, and this was difficult enough to talk about with adults. But still, Zenyatta grabbed a chair and sat down next to Jack's bed and placed a hand on his head as he gathered his thoughts.

"Summoners are people of great power,great skill and they have great responsibilities. As you know, they go through the pilgrimage and, once they reach Zanarkand, obtain the final aeon." Zenyatta explained.  
"I know all that stuff," Jack said, a little impatient.  
Zenyatta laughed gently. "I see," he said. "Once the final aeon has been obtained, the summoner travels back to the Calm Lands to fight Sin. Once Sin is defeated..." Zenyatta hesitated. Jack was still so young, too young, to know.  
"Then, they die." Jack said. Slowly, Zenyatta nodded. "Why?"  
"No one is sure. There are however, many theories on the matter."  
"What do you think happens?"

Zenyatta visibly flinched, but tried so hard to swallow it back. He took in a small puff of breath and gently ruffled the soft locks, before finally moving his hand away. He folded his hands on his lap and no longer looked at Jack, but he was staring at Zenyatta, like the world depended on that answer.

"I believe the energy required to summon the final aeon burns them out," he finally answered.  
"Oh." Jack paused. For a moment, he was lost in thought, but then he nodded sagely. "Then, I'll become a guardian, and I'll protect my summoner. And at the end, they can take my energy too. That way we can both live!"

It seemed like such a simple solution to a child, and perhaps it was. His determination was truly admirable, but sad once one knew the truth. Looking back now, had Jack known the truth, would he have stayed on that path? Jack wondered about that sometimes, but ultimately, it didn't matter.

Soon after, Jack was taught in the ways of the sword by the crusaders. That was how he had met Reinhardt. Reinhardt was only about ten at the time, but by Yevon, the boy was already a tower. He looked like he could lift the whole island of Besaid without even thinking about it, and Jack was in awe. He wished that he, too, were that strong.

He, on the other hand, was more encouraged to follow a gentle path; a path of white magic. His abilities were uncommon, and the temple sought to hone them. Jack hated it. It felt like no matter what he did, he was always going to do what they wanted, and not what he wanted. He knew this was his fate, though, and refused to give up.

Jack was eight when a new family moved into Besaid from Bevelle, consisting of a family of five, a mother, three girls, and one young boy who was the same age as Jack. After having been only around children older than him, as Reinhardt and Ana were respectively eleven and ten, it felt like a nice novelty to find someone his age.

Jack was a little hesitant at first to talk to this new family. New people were uncommon, other than passing travellers and the odd pilgrimage, and it was even rarer for children to be a gentle push, Jack approached the young boy. He folded his hands into a sphere as he bowed – the common greeting among followers of Yevon.

"Hi! I'm Jack," he greeted. "What's your name?"  
"Gabriel." Gabriel seemed a little distant, but he was probably shy, too.  
"Nice to meet you, Gabe!" Gabe visibly flinched. "Wanna come play?"  
Gabriel looked over at his mother, who nodded at him with a wide smile. "O-okay."

Jack grabbed Gabriel's hand and scampered off, dragging a nervous Gabriel behind him. Once Jack found Ana and Reinhardt, he released the poor, terrified boy. The two others looked at Jack with confusion, but all Jack did was grin.

"This is Gabe," he announced.  
"Gabriel."  
"Can Gabe play too?"  
Ana looked at the new boy, then over to Reinhardt with an amused look. "I don't see why not." The tall boy laughed, his voice a booming noise already and wrapped his arm around the now-scared Gabriel.  
"Of course! The more, the merrier!"

Gabriel was stiff as a board, and Jack was sure a light breeze would send him flying off like paper. He placed a gentle hand on Gabriel's shoulder when Reinhardt finally released him. The scared boy relaxed a little, but he still looked so, so tiny. Jack thought to himself that maybe he could be like a big brother to this kid.

"Don't worry Gabe, Reinhardt is just loud." And the size of a barn.

Ana had brought a blitzball ball; a knobbly, blue and white thing which felt weird to hold. It was a little difficult to catch out of the water, but they made do. They took turns passing it at each other, either by throwing or by kicking. When Jack got hit in the stomach with the ball though, the kids decided that maybe they ought to stop for the day.

The next morning, Jack went to find Gabriel. The boy was awkwardly hovering around his home, so he was easy enough to find. Excited, Jack shot off to him. Gabriel seemed far more at ease when he saw his new friend, and even relaxed a little. Jack grinned at him as he stopped, kicking up sand as he did.

"You ready? Ana and Reinhardt are already gonna be there, I think," Jack said. He hadn't seen Ana that morning, so he assumed she had just gone off without him.

Gabriel nodded. The two of them made their way to the beach, and, as predicted, the other two were already there. Jack could hear their laughter before he could even see them. They were sitting together, and Ana held their ball in her arms. When she heard the other two coming, she looked over at them.

"What time do you call this?" she joked.  
"S'too early to wake up when you do," Jack mumbled.

She laughed and stood up, throwing the ball at him with high accuracy. For once, he managed to catch it with his hands, and not his face. He was pretty proud of himself for that. He threw the ball right back at her, and she passed it over to Reinhardt, and the game simply evolved from there.

Though the sun beat down on them, it did not discourage the children from playing. Jack and Reinhardt were already starting to develop sunburns, but they wouldn't notice for another few hours. By then, they would both be flattened and burning in the shade.

Gabriel wasn't paying attention. Reinhardt threw the ball a little too hard at him, and that was it. With quite the resounding slap, Gabriel caught the ball. With his face. There was a second of silence, before he realised what had happened. Then suddenly, he burst into tears, and none of them had any idea what to do.

Jack approached him and held Gabriel's face carefully. His nose was bleeding, possibly broken, but he wasn't sure. There was one thing Jack could do to fix this. With an inhale, he focused his magic to surround him, then moved it slowly to Gabriel. Gabriel flinched and tried to back away, but Jack did not let him. He visibly relaxed as the magic slowly healed him, but he was still sobbing.

Jack released his face, and it seemed that the bleeding had stopped. "Gabe? You okay?"  
"N-no," Gabriel stuttered, slowly backing away from Jack.  
"Does it still hurt? Come here, I'll help you," Jack said, trying to reach out to him.

But Gabriel bolted before anyone could even do anything, leaving Jack standing there. He looked over at Ana and Reinhardt, who were just as confused and concerned as he was. Jack should have just run after him, but he didn't know why he didn't. Ana put her hands on his shoulders.

"Am I really that weird?" Jack whispered. He felt something prickle at the corners of his eyes, and he tried so hard to bite it back.  
Ana sighed, rubbing his shoulders gently. "Some people just don't understand."

Gabriel was nowhere to be found that day, or the next. Perhaps the ball had caused more damage, and he required bedrest. But Jack knew it was thanks to him, thanks to his weird abilities in white magic, something both coveted and feared in Spira. Jack had no idea whether he should go look for Gabriel, or simply call it a day.

On the third day, Jack found himself alone at the beach, tracing circles in the sand. Ana and Reinhardt had not appeared yet, but he didn't mind, as they were busier than he was. He heard someone approach, but he assumed it was just one of the adults checking up on him, so he didn't react. But they didn't make a noise, Jack looked behind him and saw Gabriel awkwardly hovering.

"Hey," Jack said. Gabriel sat down next to him without a word. "You okay?"  
"Kinda. My nose is okay now," Gabriel shrugged.

Jack looked over at him. His nose didn't seem to be damaged; perhaps they hadn't broken it, just made it bleed. That was a small relief, he supposed. Jack gave him a small smile, before looking back down at his sand doodles. Gabriel sighed.

"Is that normal?" he finally asked.  
Jack felt his blood run cold. It was a question he was used to; he asked himself that all the time. "The priests say it's normal for people with summoning powers. But not everyone who uses magic can summon. Something like that," Jack said.

Gabriel went quiet for a moment. Jack held his elbow in his other hand, digging his nails in a little as he waited for something, anything. Then, a spark flashed in Gabriel's eyes as he reached some sort of understanding about what Jack had just said.

"You're a summoner?" Gabriel whispered in amazement, like Jack had shown him the secrets of the universe.  
"No. I don't wanna be a summoner, so I'm not." He sounded so sure of himself, as well.  
"So, what do you wanna be?" Gabriel asked.  
"I dunno. I just wanna be me, I guess."

Gabriel laughed softly, and Jack laughed with him. Gabriel seemed a little less nervous now, much to both of their reliefs. Jack flumped forward into the sand., and Gabriel finally decided to sit next to him, taking care not to sit in his friend's sand doodles. Moments passed between them in silence.

"Is that why you ran? Cause you're scared of me?" Jack asked quietly.  
Gabriel averted his gaze. "I'm sorry, Jack."  
"It's okay," Jack said.

He was used to the animosity and the fear at this point, and it was a little sad that a child his age was used to this. But it did make him feel like an outcast, like he didn't belong out of the temple. Would he ever find a life out of there, he wondered? A sad thought indeed.

With the matter resolved, things could slowly go back to normal, if there was such a thing. Gabriel, to begin with, was a little too anxious to approach Jack on his own terms. Jack wondered if Gabriel was still scared of him, or if he was just worried that Jack no longer liked him. So, instead, Jack made the effort to go and find him, but he didn't mind.

There was something about this kid that Jack really did like. He was friendly, to a certain extent, anyway. Maybe he was a little weird, and a little gloomy, but that wasn't such a bad thing. When surrounded by optimists, perhaps it was for the best to have someone around who was more pessimistic.


	2. Chapter 2

The day came for the summoner in Besaid to undergo her trial. Though Jack did not quite understand the process just yet, he could tell that the atmosphere in Besaid was sombre indeed. People went about their daily duties as normal, people still traded, and the temple was still in operation, as it always was. In fact, people tried that much harder to seem cheerful. However, it did not feel right.

Jack and Ana had been ushered out of the temple without any explanation. Jack decided to go bother Gabriel, who was more than happy to keep him company. The current mood in the town was starting to get to him, though. Idly, he traced shapes in the sand as he sighed, thinking about the summoner. Why was everyone so sad? She was going to save the world, even though she was going to die for it, it wasn't that sad.

"Why is everyone so sad?" Jack asked. With Gabriel, he felt like he was never too out of line with his questions. "I mean, the summoner's gonna save us all. Right?"  
"My mom said she could die in there," Gabriel said.

Jack wasn't quite satisfied. He looked over at Gabriel, wanting to say something, before going back to his sandy doodles. He doodled the summoner in the sand, with her short hair and long robes. Why did Jack feel so wrong about this, like someone wasn't telling him something? He was missing something.

"Is she really gonna die in there?" Jack's voice was barely audible, and he wasn't sure if he was asking himself or Gabriel. He flinched.  
"W-what? No way," Gabriel scoffed, surprised.  
"Then, why is everything so weird? People are forcing being happy, but they're not."  
Gabriel sighed. "I guess that's just a grown-up thing."

That made sense to Jack, at least. Adults were weird, and kept things to themselves, no matter how much kids asked for the truth. Adults tried to lie, to protect, but Jack did not see it that way. It annoyed him just how many secrets were kept around here, more secrets than he could ever possibly know.

It was only a couple of hours later when the village found out the summoner's fate, and that was when Jack truly understood. Communicating with the fayth took too much energy out of her, and she subsequently died in the deepest chambers of the temple. Her body was extracted from the temple by her guardian, who could not contain their tears.

Jack caught a glimpse of the cold, lifeless body, and an icicle shot down his spine. It was then, and only then, that he truly understood the path of the summoner. With no summoners on the island, the people were forced to push her coffin out to sea, and pray to Yevon that her spirit would not return as a fiend.

Shortly after her funeral, her guardian mourned the loss too greatly to stay on Besaid. They had decided to travel Spira, to clear their head and their heart. Jack never saw them again, and in the coming months, he began to assume they had died, too. He just wasn't sure whether their death was planned or not.

The temple was reaching out for a replacement, be it within Besaid, or from another place in Spira. In this world, replacements were needed as soon as possible, for the sooner they could defeat Sin, the better. Unfortunately, this meant Jack was hounded to become a summoner again, and he kept refusing. He wanted no part in that life, not after seeing what could happen to him and his potential guardians.

He hid behind Zenyatta, who constantly told the other priests to leave Jack alone to choose for himself. He was glad to not be alone in this. He didn't want the glory, or the worship, or whatever else to priests tried to lure him in with. Soon, they turned their attention away from him, to someone else.

Ana was only ten, but she had made her choice. She had decided to become the next fledgling summoner. Jack was the first one she told, and when she did tell him, his face dropped. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to shake her, or to just start yelling. Visions of the last summoner's body carried out the temple filled his mind, and he could not shake off the images. That could have been Ana.

"You can't!" he yelped loudly, voice echoing through the empty halls of the temple. "You can't," he repeated quieter. He sighed, frustrated. "You'll die."  
"I know," Ana nodded. She gently fussed with his hair as she smiled sadly at him.  
"Then, then…why?" He couldn't hide the desperation in his voice.  
"Because I must. I believe that I can stop it for good, Jack."

He stood there, dumbfounded, begging his brain to come up with a good argument to stop her. But he was a kid, and all Jack could do was burst into tears. Without hesitation, Ana pulled him into her arms and stroked his soft, blond hair as he whimpered quietly. Ana was a huge part of his world, his older sister. The thought of losing her was too great, and in his childish mind, all he could think of was how selfish she was.

But he was being ridiculous, and childish, because he did not think for one second that she would be doing it for him, or for the good of Spira. All Jack was thinking about was how it was hurting him, making him the selfish one. It took too long for him to realise that, too. They stood there for what felt like an eternity, as Jack poured out what remained of his heart, until he was too tired to cry anymore. He sniffled and wiped his eyes, and Ana placed a kiss on the top of his head.

"You're going to be okay," she said.  
"But you're not," Jack mumbled.

Ana went quiet. There was nothing she could have said that would have made this okay, and nothing could have cheered Jack up in that moment. Finally, he let her go, and looked into her face and he realised she was just as sad about this. He walked away, knowing that if he stayed even a little bit longer, he would have started sobbing again. Yevon knows he no longer had a single tear in his body, now.

Jack threw himself further into healing, knowing very well that when the time came, he would become Ana's guardian, whether she liked it or not. He had also started to train with a wooden sword, which, to a lot of people, just seemed like he was playing. But he felt like, to become a real guardian, he needed to become physically stronger. To begin with, Jack tried to spar with Reinhardt, which did not work so well when the kid was built sturdier than any of the houses in Besaid.

Gabriel started to come and watch the pair fight, and was amused when half of those fights devolved into Jack jumping onto Reinhardt to try and topple him. In the end, it just looked like a monkey attempting to climb a tree. Gabriel laughed the hardest at those fights. Finally, one day, Jack became a little irritated with Gabriel's laughter, and decided to turn it against him.

"What, you wanna fight me?" Jack asked, with a hint of a smirk.  
Gabriel shrugged. "Can't. I don't know how to use a sword."  
"You can be taught." Jack turned to Reinhardt. "Is there a spare wooden sword?"  
"Of course! Let me go get it," Reinhardt said.

Gabriel quickly understood that he had no say in this. Jack's confidence, however, soared proudly. He had no shame in fighting his inexperienced friend. Reinhardt returned with one of the crusaders' wooden training swords, and Gabriel's face paled, just slightly, much to Jack's amusement. When he was handed the sword, he rolled his eyes to hide the dry gulp.

"Really?" His voice was almost a whine. Almost.  
"Yep. On your feet, Gabe."

Well. Neither of them had seen this one coming. There they were, face to face, each with a sword in hand as they contemplated this moment. Finally, Gabriel nodded, and jumped to his feet, holding the sword in what he assumed to be the right way. Jack grabbed his hand and carefully moved it into what he thought was the right way. Jack was mostly self-taught, and still a kid, after all.

"Show me how to fight, Jack."  
"When you're ready, come at me."

Wood hit against wood in hard knocks as they wildly swung the swords at each other, yelling madly. This was what they were supposed to, so they thought. To outsiders, they were just two kids yelling and whacking each other with wood. To each other, though, this was an intense battle, requiring skill and might.

Finally, exhausted, bruised and battered, the two of them were like dead fish on the sand. Reinhardt had long since abandoned them to their own devices, meaning it was just the two of them now. Jack's chest heaved heavily, the world spinning around him as his body's adrenaline supply was running out of his bloodstream. Gabriel looked exactly how Jack felt, and he couldn't help but laugh.

Gabriel sat up, blinking a few times to adjust to his new surroundings, then looked down at Jack, who was barely conscious. Their play-fight, or whatever that was, had almost killed them. Once they regained their strength, they would need to get something to eat.

"Why're you doing this sword stuff?" Gabriel asked.  
"I'm gonna go with Ana when she goes off on her pilgrimage. So I've gotta be strong," Jack nodded, certain.  
"Woah," Gabriel breathed. "Can I come?"  
"You'd have to ask Ana. But I think so. The four of us can go together!" Jack clicked his fingers in realisation as he spoke.

Gabriel and Jack both smiled then at the daydream of adventure and travelling across Spira together. They imagined strong beasts to take down together, and warm campfires where they would reminisce over the past and laugh. Yes, the four of them could have gone together, in Jack's dream. It would have been the adventure of a lifetime.

Life became progressively busier for the quartet as they started to get older. Ana was training to become a summoner, Reinhardt was training to be a crusader, and Jack and Gabriel essentially dicked around with swords all day. To them, though, that was work. When Gabriel couldn't come out to play, Jack focused more on his white magic. He still wasn't great at it, but he was now able to close small wounds, and he was very much proud of himself for it.

However, the group always made time for each other whenever possible, usually in the evenings, before and after dinner. They took a blitzball to the beach, playing their usual games, where someone usually got a blitzball to the face. When that happened, Jack just took it as his chance to practice his magic, unless he was the one to get hurt. In this case, he would just sit out a couple of games until he felt better.

Sometimes they built sandcastles, or Jack dug a hole and attempted to bury Reinhardt in it. There was only one time when he let it happen, and he broke out of it easily for a pre-teen. On hotter evenings, they played in the shallow end of the sea, with their shoes discarded into a pile. They came out of it with drenched, salted clothes that immediately needed a wash, but it was so worth it. Jack's skin was a little sensitive he discovered, as the salt left a slight sting.

One evening was windier than usual, so instead, they all stayed away from the water. If it was windy, the waves would have been awful, they thought. They were happy enough to just sit around for the evening; the day had been strenuous enough for all of them. Jack laid down in the sand, watching the clouds swirl in the sky, and slowly shift from white to an orange tone.

The wind whipped up, kicking up sand and dust. With a yelp, Jack covered his eyes, and assumed everyone else did, too. He heard groans of pain from his friends, and in the groans, he heard Ana's voice.

"Oh- my hat!"

It was only something to keep the sun off her as much as possible, to keep cool. They should have seen this coming. Jack caught a glimpse of the hat as it floated in the air, before dropping into the water. Without a second thought, he jumped into the water, forgetting that he wasn't the strongest swimmer. Screw it all; he knew how much Ana liked that stupid little hat, and he wasn't about to let the sea swallow it.

The current pulled him in, yanking him deeper into the sea. No matter how hard he swam, he was always just fingertips away from the hat. Jack swallowed enough water to fill a bathtub, he was sure, as he coughed up the liquid. Horrible salt entered his lungs, his stomach, anywhere it could fill.

Finally, the hat was in his reach, and he grabbed it. When he finally felt that fabric in his hand, he relaxed, and a wave washed over him, pulling him under. He tried to scream, but the water silenced him as he struggled to swim back up to the surface.

Little did he know that Gabriel had jumped in right after him, knowing he was probably going to drown himself. So when he felt something drag him back to the surface, he struggled harder, his heart thumping, believing it was a shark. Once above water, Jack saw Gabriel, who was still trying to drag him to shore. His body gave in by then, And Jack had to let him drag him – the rest of his energy was taken by holding that damn hat tighter than ever.

At shore, Jack crumpled to the floor, with nothing left in him. The other two rushed to him, and Ana crouched down. She touched his neck, and breathed in relief when she felt a pulse. He was still breathing, too, and she noticed the hat in his hand in a vice grip. No one was getting that out of his hands.

Reinhardt was the one who dragged Jack back to the village and into the temple. They were greeted by angry priests, but none of them cared. One of them even made sure to follow them to Jack's room to really go off at them. But there was only so much the kids could listen to.

"We get it!" Gabriel finally stopped. Reinhardt and Ana stopped, looking at each other. "We've gotta look after him now, so can you wait?"

Gabriel realised very quickly that he had made a mistake yelling at one of the priests like that. He opened his mouth to start yelling again, but snapped it shut once again and stormed off. He expected quite a telling off once they left Jack's room. As soon as he was placed on the bed, Reinhardt was the first to go.

And then there were two. Gabriel ruffled Jack's hair, which had already started to crust over with salt. Though her proficiency was in black magic, this did not stop Ana from trying to heal Jack where she could. But, for now, it was a waiting game. The two of them sat in near silence for what felt like hours, until a priest barged in. It wasn't the same one from earlier, at least, but he was just as mad.

"What are you two doing in here? Go home, now," he demanded.  
"We're looking after Jack, cause someone has to," Gabriel spat.  
"Gabriel! You can't speak to adults like that," Ana gasped.  
"Both of you. Out. Now. You've done enough damage."

Grabbed by the collar, Gabriel was dragged out of Jack's room and escorted to the exit. The priest did not leave his post, knowing damn well Gabriel would try to break back in. Annoyed, tired, and realising it was getting late, he retired home. Oh, he would be back. With a vengeance.

As soon as Gabriel woke up, he was at the temple, and when he arrived, he was shooed away by various priests. He wasn't going to give up until he knew for himself that Jack was fine, so really, they were prolonging the suffering.

Finally, after a thousand attempts at entering Jack's room, Gabriel was allowed in by Zenyatta, who noticed him hovering awkwardly by the temple as he planned his next move. At this point, Jack was only just awake, groggy and crusty-eyed, but he was fine. He looked at Gabriel with a smile, scratching the back of his head before looking away.

"I…I messed up, didn't I?" Jack asked. Stupid question, really. "Did Ana get her hat back?"

All Gabriel could do was laugh. He pulled up a chair beside Jack's beside and sat down. Gabriel grabbed his hand, and he was shocked by how warm it was. He did not want to let it go.

"Yeah, don't worry. She got the hat," he said, squeezing Jack's hand gently.  
"Good. Praise be to Yevon, right?" Jack laughed pathetically, squeezing back. "You're okay, right? I remember you started to drag me to shore, and…"  
"And I saved your life," Gabriel said.

Jack felt really stupid at this point. Pride had almost killed him, and could have killed Gabriel, too. He could barely remember what happened after Gabriel grabbed him, but he was glad to see he was okay. Jack smiled weakly at him.

"Yeah. Thanks, Gabe."  
He placed his other hand on top of Jack's. "Any time, Jack."


	3. Chapter 3

The boys were eleven at this point; not teenagers, but that stage was soon coming. Adults around them joked about the boys being real lady-killers, but neither of them had much interest in girls. Not that Jack could notice; the only girl around that he talked to was Ana, and she was his sister. There was Gabriel's sisters, but they were older, and it was weird to try and date a best friend's sister.

Jack was happy enough with the way things were in his non-existent romantic life. He had Gabriel; what else did he need? Perhaps they could stick together, like life partners or something. Could boys get married? Jack shook off those thoughts. Man, he hated it when he got stuck in his head like that.

Ana had become increasingly busy with training, but Jack hung around with her regardless. He liked watching her train her magic, or learn the summoning dances. Often, Ana would get him to stand and do it with her. The priests weren't always impressed with this, but they allowed it, as long as she still worked hard. With Jack, she worked just that little bit harder.

In a way, Jack could call this his own summoner training, if he wanted to. As he wasn't forced, he was quite enjoying this. Dancing was hard, but moving to the rhythm of life, as a summoner did, was enjoyable. For moments, he envisioned himself as a summoner, clad in dark blue robes and holding onto a staff. It just did not suit him, but why did it feel like it was haunting him?

All of this had given him an idea, though. After Ana had gone back to the temple with the priest, Jack followed. He spotted Gabriel, who was happy sitting alone until Jack came to bother him. He looked up, and immediately narrowed his eyes when he saw Jack grinning.

Jack led Gabriel out to sea. The latter was suspicious, but he followed. When Jack crouched down to offer him a piggy back ride, that was when Gabriel stopped in his tracks and folded his arms over his chest.

"What're you doing?" Gabriel asked.  
"Just trust me. I'm gonna show you something cool," Jack replied.

Gabriel paused. What was the worst that could happen? With a shrug, he jumped onto Jack's back, who stood back up. He took a deep breath, and carefully, he made slow strides to the water. He could feel Gabriel tense up against his back, but he had to ignore it, or he would panic.

His foot cautiously touched the water's surface and, when he felt it solidify underfoot, he proceeded onwards. Gabriel was whispering something behind him, but he had no idea what. With every step he heard the water splash against his foot, and as they proceeded, he felt like he couldn't breathe. One false move, and they were going under.

Gabriel's arms were around Jack's throat, and each time he held on tighter, more of Jack's air supply easy cut off. With a cough, Gabriel got the hint and loosened up. Then, Jack stopped.

"Gabe, look. This is what I want to show you."

Gabriel looked, but he could see they were surrounded by water. He didn't dare look back and see how far off shore they had gone and, instead, he looked down at the water's surface and gasped softly.

The sea was calm and clear, so they could see everything. They could see the fish swimming without a care in the world, and the beautiful flowers at the very bottom. They could see jellyfish, bobbing along the water. These were things one could not see when so high up on a boat.

Gabriel was starting to get heavy, but Jack didn't want to admit it. Instead, he held him tighter, with shaky arms. Jack sucked up his breath again, trying to hold steady, but he wasn't sure how long he would hold out for now.

"You wanna head back? I don't want you to drop me," Gabriel suggested.  
Jack laughed as he started to walk back to shore, secretly relieved. "If I wanted to, I could drop you here."

In response, Gabriel squeezed Jack tightly again and, with a choke, Jack dropped his friend into the sea. His focus snapped, and with it he lost the ability to walk atop the sea. Jack fell in, too, leaving two young boys bobbing along the top of the sea. Quickly, they swam back, remembering the jellyfish floating around. Jack did not want to stick around for that.

"You're an idiot!" Gabriel choked as he struggled to speak through the water pouring into his mouth.

The relief Jack felt when he reached the shore was amazing. He laid down against the wet sand and let the waves wash over him, not giving even the slightest thought about Gabriel, who was now out and glaring. With an eye roll, he dragged his 'dead' friend back to drier sand.

Gabriel sat down next to Jack, who had not moved in this whole debacle. He tried to poke him, but all he got in response was a grunt. At least Jack was alive.

"How much energy does that take, anyway?"  
"A lot," Jack mumbled into the sand. "Ana can do it way better and for way longer. Didn't think I'd hold you for that long."  
Gabriel gently patted his back. "What is it with you and hurting me?"  
"Dunno. Guess I'm just a heartbreaker," Jack winked.  
"Shut up," Gabriel laughed.

Reinhardt was busy preparing for deployment with the crusaders, and Ana was busy training for her pilgrimage. When they weren't busy, they spent a lot of time together. Jack decided to leave them to it; he didn't quite understand just yet, but he knew when he wasn't the most wanted.

Those were the days when Jack threw a wooden sword at Gabriel and demanded a sword fight, regardless of the current situation. He could complain all he wanted, but he always ended up doing what Jack had told him to. By the time he realised, it was too late.

As they got older, they were getting better at fighting. From Jack's calculations, they had an even split of victories to losses, which he was pretty proud of. They had managed to break a couple of wooden swords in their over enthusiastic playing sessions, but they were easily replaced. After all, it was only wood.

Once they had beaten each other senseless to the point of exhaustion, they would stop, swords abandoned on the floor next to them as they flopped into the soft sand. Jack could just fall asleep right there, next to Gabriel. That seemed like the most peaceful way to fall asleep.

Shaking the sand from his hair, he sat up, to stop himself from falling asleep. "Hey, Gabe? Do you think Sin can ever be defeated?"

Jack had been too scared to utter those words to anyone in the temple, scared of being blasphemous or offending. But with Gabriel, he felt safe with his questions.

"By a summoner, yeah. The final aeon will kill it. You know that," Gabriel said as if it was so obvious.  
"No, not like that," Jack shook his head. "I mean, forever. Do you think it will ever, you know," he winced before saying the word, "die?"

Gabriel paused, and Jack could see the wheels turn in his friend's mind. Not even he knew. Gabriel sighed, fiddling with the sand, before finally giving his answer.

"I don't know. Maybe? One day, when the right summoner comes along, Sin really will die, I think. Forever. You never know, maybe that summoner is Ana."  
"And if it's not?" he whispered like it was some grand secret. He leaned in closely.  
Gabriel sighed. He didn't look at Jack, either. "Then we find another way."

Jack stared up at the sky with a frown; the wispy clouds were dyed into a darker blue now, as dusk settled. He looked to the early, bright stars, searching for guidance within their light. But, at the end of the day, they were just stars. He grabbed fistfuls of sand, letting it run through his fingers, before grabbing more, repeating the process endlessly.

"We'll find another way," Jack echoed. "Together?"  
Gabriel laughed. "Did you really need to ask that?"

He wrapped an arm around Jack's shoulders, pinning him in place as he gave him a scalp-scalding noogie, despite yelps of protests and fighting him off. Yet still, they were laughing. Immediately, Jack felt better, as nothing in the world felt quite so serious after a noogie. That was the worst thing in life for him at the time.

Jack daydreamed of when the four of them set off on their adventure. Ana would be guarded by her three boys as she obtained aeons across Spira and, when the end happened, they were all together. Ana would reject the final aeon, and they would take down Sin together. They would be heralded as heroes.

Ana did not have to die. Jack and Gabriel just needed to find a way around this.


End file.
